Monday, December 29, 2008

Monday, March 5, 2007

Sorry I have not posted in what has to be a month or so. Many reasons led to this: me being lazy, lack of games, lack of time, and probably most importantly not a damn thing to write about. I could have written about my life designing unreal levels, but that would have been filled with terms like dynamic lightning or static meshes. Which trust me you won't want to hear about (unless you like imaging blocks moving).

But I respond back because I do have something to say now. Recently my bud Andy lent me his Nintendo Wii. It took me awhile to convince because that meant I would get Zelda and that meant I would beat it and that meant I would beat it before him. So out of his stubborn ways he refused to give it to me for shallow bragging rights. But he came to his senses because I beat him down that I was the true Zelda master and that he was just a passing poe going out into the moonless night....

....That and he was busy reviewing games for his website so his Wii was sitting unplayed on his desk. It did take me long before I dove into Zelda was it was handed to me. Stupid homework and the lack of energy was just not there. To me Zelda is just not a sit down and play for thirty minutes game, its a long passionate affair that lasts seven hours a day for weeks. Knowing this I convinced myself that I must start this game when I have at least three hours to kill.

Here are my first impressions: controls are weird and unnatural, game is way to slooooooowwww to begin, and man did I like Wind Waker's world more.

Here are my impressions after ten hours: controls are actually good, okay finally I feel like we are getting somewhere, this world still lacks some imagination.

Here are my impressions after twenty hours: controls are slick as hell. I can't go back to the old games now. The sword swiping/nunchuking/thrusting actually works once you discover the complex moves. Wow these dungeons filled with new items and challenging puzzles are amazing. GIVE ME MORE. The world still sucks.

Monday, February 19, 2007

This post originally appears on Angry Citizen. The writer has given us permission to repost the material on Headless Ponch.

Watching Sonic Youth perform live is like listening to a new Sonic Youth album. You know their performance or album will be good, really good, or amazing and never coming close to a disappointment. As a matter of fact, they lull you to sleep with a consistently steady performance level and uncanny ability to nail song after song without giving off the appearance of stagnation or going through the motions. If you ask me, which you didn't, it's an amazing feat many bands will never pull off, let alone for the duration Sonic Youth has been chuggging along. They are so consistently good, as a fan you can often slip into a hazy state similar to a person suffering from a psychological trauma. Somehow they appear mundane, even though that's the furthest thing from reality. Maybe I'm the only one that has suffered through "Sonic Youth Syndrome?" But alas, more times than not, by the end of their live set or album they manage to impress me in overt and subtle ways that inevitably shake me out of my "Sonic Youth Syndrome."

On Friday night, as expected, Sonic Youth marched through most of their underrated album Rather Ripped. Of the albums released in '06 Rather Ripped consistently proves to be one of the better releases based on its ability to provide continued revelations, while other more heralded album have worn out their welcome. "Pink Steam" and "Or" have grown on me to the point where they have become two of my favorite Sonic Youth songs, which is no small feat. Last time Sonic Youth played New York, fans of Daydream Nation were treated to "Teenage Riot" and "Eric's Trip." This time around the lucky fans in attendance were blessed with "Candle" and "Silver Rocket." Of course, the highlight of the evening was the blistering rendition of "Silver Rocket." It's always fun to speculate which song Sonic Youth will reach back for and play live. They'll always play one old favorite or obscure song you did not, or could not fathom before hand. With a catalog as diverse and deep it's often futile to speculate but more rewarding to sit back and wait paitently for that one song. Next to "Silver Rocket", that one song I was not expecting but was delighted to hear was, "Skip Tracer." If Lee hit the stage, sans Sonic Youth, performed "Skip Tracer" and exited stage I would have walked home a happy man. Yeah, a little over the top, but it's Lee. I have a strange and complex attraction to Lee Ranaldo's songs and his disturbingly hypnotic voice. Rats, one of the better cuts off Rather Ripped stands up strong against his previous output, however shamefully limited that output has been. I was hoping to hear "Mote" or "Wish Fulfillment," but no dice. There wasn't much on stage banter aside for Moore calling Mark Ibold, Mark Arm, before quickly correcting his error. A hearty laugh was had all around and everyone's attention quickly shifted back to the music. I've come to the inevitable conclusion that it's impossible to walk away from a Sonic Youth concert disappointed. Sonic Youth never disappointed an audience is the most scientifically accurate and proven theory next to Einstein's Theory of Relativity and "Sonic Youth Syndrome."

Read the original post on Angry Citizen, as well as looking at more pictures.

Saturday, February 17, 2007

Win Butler is a hero. A fan of Arcade Fire wrote a long winding post about how he recently got into an two Arcade Fire shows in London.

The first night he was able to get in because some employees for Merge felt bad that he and his friend from Canada (London from Canada, wow) didn't get in. So they got them in for free.

The next night is just truly magical though. It outlines why Arcade Fire is the best band now. Long story short: fan tries to get in again, but can't land any tickets; Win sneaks out of the venue and motions him to come in; fan feels bad for others ticketless, so he brings the whole troop along; as Win and the 10 fans sneak into the venue, a tout tells them it is not allowed; then Win and fan fend off the tout as everyone sneaks in -- it even ends with a punchline.

J-Zone made a long and excellent post on his myspace dissecting the current state of hip hop. "It seems there's not many funny artists no more. Like on some Biz Mark, Humpty Hump, The Afros shit. Not afraid to go to the extreme and have fun. God forbid you use your imagination or rap about something not involving hiphop, the hood, you bein the shit, the end of the world or what color your car interior is."

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The banner at the top is a painting, "Gazebo", by Ryan Malley who is the founder of theartprint.net. It is a great piece in my eyes, illustrating many things -- depending on which way you look at it. Ryan explains that it shows the tenderloin/tenderknob neighborhood that he has been living in the past two years.
I emailed asking for permission to not only use it, but tamper with it by adding the words Headless Ponch. I've been waiting for a reply and never receieved one. I do not know if that means no, but I am going to use it because it looks just too good.
Ryan or any employee of TheArtPrint, feel free to contact me and ask for me to take it down. Hope it doesn't bother you guys.